


Beautiful losers

by Poulpiken



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:23:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3771535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poulpiken/pseuds/Poulpiken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate Universe: our little babies from The 100 are Hogwarts students; from Murphy's and Emori's POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction ever and english is not my native language so I apologize in advance for the mispellings you might find ! 
> 
> I'm currently writing the rest of the fic but I don't really know when I'll post the other chapters; I'll try to do it quickly !
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy it !  
> xx

It was finally it. The end of her exams and with that, the end of her 5th year at Hogwarts. 

Emori dropped her pen (because yeah, she used a pen to write these long-ass essays about the history of magic, thanks to her mother who bought them after she saw what her letters looked like written with ink and a feather) and took a deep breath. She survived this year, she finished her O.W.L.s and she was absolutely ready to celebrate.  
Emori turned over and shot a bright smile at the girl sitting a few tables behind. Anya had already finish her essay and smiled back at her, that particular smile they shared when they were the only ones who knew what was coming. Well, they weren’t the only ones to know this time because a prank during the O.W.L.s was hard to plan and implement.

When the clock finally ticked 5PM, all the students in the room rose up and started screaming and hugging each other, expect for the one who were crying because they thought they failed but come on, the holidays were finally here, they needed to stop whining.  
Emori joined Anya and the rest of her gang waiting for her in a corner of the room, all of them with smiles plastered on their faces. 

Finally, when the headmasters of the houses appeared to congratulate them, Anya nodded to Emori and the rest of the group. The six of them raised their wands to the ceiling and shouted the curse. Then, they turned with a smirk to see Jaha’s and Abby’s reaction while litters of butter-beer flooded from the ceiling directly in the mouth of the students, who looked like the happiest persons on Earth.  
Jaha laughed and actually took a glass from one of the many pockets of his robe and hold it under the flow, looking pleased by their prank. Abby Griffin, on the other hand, did not look so happy and was approaching them, followed by Marcus Zane, head of the Gryffindor house.  
Emori looked at her five friends with a big smile on her face while the beer flow was stopping above their head. This was a success.

« Hi there Abby ! What did you think of our little surprise ? » asked Anya who was one of the few persons who could fearlessly call the Headmistress of Hogwarts by her name.

« Anya and her gang, of course. I should have known you were going to do something stupid today. Thelonius claimed he knew nothing but I suppose he was aware of this.

« Yeah well we didn’t really tell Jaha but he always knows when we’re going to do something awesome. I guess that’s why he bought a glass with him. »

Abby sighed heavily at the sight of the six Slytherins looking very pleased with themselves and she sighed again when she saw that a big part of the students in the room looked tipsy from all that butter-beer. She even saw one vomit in a corner. Great.

« Alright, follow me, the six of you. I hope this is gonna be the last punishment I have to give this year. Don’t worry, the train leaves in two days and we have a lot of cleaning to do everywhere in the Castle so you’re going to be busy. »

Emori laughed at that. With her best friends around her, even the worst tasks seemed awesome. Also, Abby couldn’t keep them working all night so they could drink properly tonight and celebrate the end of this year with everyone.  
While they were walking through the Castle to join Abby’s office, Emori saw a group of 3rd years who looked at her friends and her with admiration and almost envy. Emori and her gang were pretty popular in Hogwarts for their pranks so she wasn’t surprised. Though, there was something weird about this group: they were a dozen, coming from the four different houses. This wasn’t something she was used to but they looked like they could be the ones doing pranks on the next years so she smiled at them and winked before they disappeared behind the corner.

……………………………………

« Murphy ? Hey, Murph ? You alright ? »

Murphy woke up from his day dream and looked at the tall handsome black dude in front of him (they were only in third year but Miller made everybody fall for him, it was unfair).  
His friends were all looking at him with a smug face. Oh oh.

« What is it again ? » asked Murphy with a confused face.

« Muuurphy, you were totally looking at Emori with heart eyes ! You know she was winking at all of us right ? » said Clarke, clearly having fun. Clarke was a good friend but she was still a Gryffindor and she could be really annoying. Murphy then realized all his friends were looking at him with a smirk.

«  Guys, stop doing this. Also Clarke, funny how you can see my heart eyes but you can’t even notice that Bellamy has been looking at you this way since the first time he met you. »

Murphy snorted when Clarke started to turn red and Bellamy contracted his jaw, looking everywhere but at her. The rest of the group laughed and left Murphy alone. Once again, Murphy was saved by his sassy comebacks (the same comebacks that put him and his friends and some ridiculously dangerous situation but let’s not think about that). 

A few hours later, when everyone in his dormitory was asleep, Murphy realized he couldn’t erase Emori’s smile off his mind. Fuck.


	2. Point de départ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the 2nd chapter I had already written !  
> The title is a french rap song I love and it means "starting point"  
> This chapter is way longer than the first and I think all the followings will be as long, perhaps more !  
> Anyway, hope you'll enjoy it, don't hesitate to leave a comment !  
> You can also find me on tumblr: http://sweatbloodmoldanddamp.tumblr.com/
> 
> xx

Murphy inhaled deeply as he crossed the door. The smell of the Slytherin’s common room never changed: a mix of burning candles, old stones and dust. He once talked about this with Bell in 4th year and they came to the conclusion that people smelled what they wanted because Bellamy perceived leather and expensive perfume instead. 

Anyway, Murphy was happy to be back here, where he belonged, with everyone around him. The group was sitting in his usual spot, the left corner of the room, between the fire and the books, at the opposite of the stairs.  
They made themselves a nest and everybody had his favourite place to sit on even if they weren’t all in Slytherin; actually, only Miller, Bellamy, Raven and himself were. The others were in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. They often spend their nights together in one of the common rooms and tonight was in Slytherin’s. 

The first time they all met here, the other students looked at them like they were some strange species. Indeed, it wasn’t common to find such a big group of people constantly together and coming from the four different houses but they got used to it. Now, Murphy’s group was known by everyone in the Castle (it was mostly due to the events that happened in the end of their 2nd year and really united them but also because they did everything to be noticed: they were loud and made pranks and tried to be the best in everything, from quidditch to herbology; it was pretty hard to not notice them).

Anyway, tonight was the fourth day of their 5th year at Hogwarts and it was their first night of gathering so, obviously, the big talk was happening. The quidditch talk.

Murphy sighed loudly. It was the same every damn year. Not that he hated quidditch; he actually enjoyed himself cheering for his team and insulting the other team; he even once got into a fistfight with a gryffindor who insulted their goal keeper. He was just not really interested in all the drama that took place before every selection.  
  
The schemes were the same, year after year: Bellamy was the most stressed person on Earth but acted like everything was fine and quidditch was the easiest thing ever; Clarke made strategies and then remembered she had to choose, as the Gryffindor’s captain, the composition of her team and panicked; Octavia was waiting calmly, which was surprising because it was her first selection tomorrow; she kept muttering something about a warrior that must not worry about what he cannot control (that didn’t even make sense); Miller spend his time trying to figure how to spy on the other teams to learn about their strategies; the answer was either to sneakily break into the team’s office and steal all the papers or to have sex with all the players and extort their secrets during the post-orgasm bliss; both worked pretty well for Miller; Monroe tried to train 25 hours a day and then had sugar drops or passed out. So yeah, being friend with all this sports nerds was awesome most of the time but not on the day before the quidditch selections.

The thing was that they weren’t all in the same house so they tried to be friendly and hold conversation without revealing important information or yelling at each other. This was the fun part. 

Clarke, as the red-and-golds captain, always tried to be right and not chose someone because of what she felt about him/her but Octavia and Monroe were so good, they were picked up every year. The hardest part for Clarke was then to choose the last four people.  
The Slytherin’s captain was Anya; she had been since her 3rd year and was one of the best goal keeper Hogwarts had seen. She was going to join the Holyhead Harpies at the end of the year, according to every quidditch specialist. She was also a good captain: the Slytherin team had won the last two Cups and was ready to win again this year. Murphy’s best friends, Miller and Bellamy, were part of the team since their 2nd year and were pretty good players from what he could see so he was sure they were going to be chosen tomorrow. For the rest of the team, he bet on Anya’s friends: Echo, Nyko and Emori, even if he had notice last year that Emori wasn’t in the team so he wondered if she would be this year. Raven had been part of the team in 3rd and 4th year but she had had an accident this summer and her left leg was paralyzed since so Murphy had no idea who the last player would be.  
Lincoln was the only Ravenclaw quidditch player of their group since Monty preferred to play Pro Quidditch Evolution 16 on PS4 and Wick would rather find which wood was the most aerodynamic and calculate the optimal weight of the broom stick than ride one.  
Wells was the only one in Hufflepuff and wasn’t interested in quidditch, he preferred the muggle football so, as Murphy, he didn’t really enjoy their usual night-before-the-selection.

Murphy sighed again when he heard Bellamy saying for the hundredth time that he was a better chaser than Clarke. These two had been dating for a year and a half but they kept fighting like kids most of the time.

« Please Bell, stop talking or I swear I’ll punch you ! »

« You got a problem Murph ? » asked Bellamy in his mid-annoyed mid-amused tone. « You think Clarke is a better chaser than me ? You maybe want the Gryffindor to win this year ? I don’t think so. Come on, I want a vote ! Raise your hand if you think I’m a better chaser than Clarke ! »

« Or clap your hands if you don’t give a shit ! » shouted Jasper from the end of the couch.

Everybody in the room clapped, even the people that weren’t in the conversation.  
Murphy grinned at Bellamy and started laughing when he saw him getting back at his dormitory, looking vaguely pissed, but not before giving a goodnight kiss to his princess.

« Well guys, I think we can call it a night ! » said Jasper, smiling brightly. « Murphy, Wick, Monty, see you tomorrow on the bench to watch our favourite losers on brooms ! To the said losers, good night and don’t panic, you’re all going to rock iiiit ! »

They all wished each other a good night and Murphy headed to the dormitory he shared with Miller and Bell (the fourth guy never came, lucky them).  
When they opened the door, Bell was sitting on his bed, reading some book about greek mythology.

« So Bell, tell me, how can your couple be so strong when you and Clarke are such a pain in each other’s ass ? » asked Miller, before turning to Murphy. « Please don’t make any dirty joke Murph. »

Murphy laughed. He was totally not going to do a dirty joke. Totally not.

Bellamy smiled « Love is unexplainable Nathaniel. I wish you could feel this one day, a feeling both overwhelming and liberating… »

« About that Nate, since it’s just us, how are things going with you and Prince Hacker ? » asked Murphy when Bellamy ended his poignant speech. « There was a lot of looks and smiles tonight. Well, more than usual. Anything new ? »

« Well… We kinda have a date ? » said Miller, scratching his neck and looking at the floor. This guy was amazing; he could talk without shame about all the sex he had with basically half the Castle (and two teachers please) in the past year but turned red and shied out when evoking his soon-to-be first date.  
« Dude. When ? Where ? Who asked ? I bet Monty did because you’re the biggest coward on the love battlefield. » said Bellamy, looking more than excited.

The love battlefield ? Chill out Bell, please. Even if, okay, Miller was totally a coward. They tried to make this date happen for three months, asking tips to Jasper and Harper (Monty’s best friends) and Miller never tried. This guy.

« The love battlefield ? Shut the fuck up Bell ! » said Miller, laughing. « But ok, Monty asked because yes, I can be a coward coming to certain things. Guys, this is going to be my first date ever. I don’t know shit about dating. Also, Monty chose the place and doesn’t want to tell me where it is or what it is so I have literally no idea of how to dress or if I have to bring something. I’m going to panic. I’m going to fail tomorrow’s selection. This is it. I’m done with happiness. »

Murphy looked at Miller as he spiraled down into madness. Fun to watch, not so fun to end when you were the best friend because Miller was a total cretin sometimes. Like, right now.

« Nate, stop. You’re going to ace tomorrow’s selection because you can’t be replaced in this team and Anya knows it. You’re the only person who can extort the enemies secrets with finesse and subtlety. You’re a goof beater, everyone says so. Stop panicking about quidditch, ok ? »

Miller looked at Murphy with gratitude. It was easy to make people confident about themselves, too bad it didn’t worked the same way about yourself. Anyway, he was getting pretty good at those speeches. Maybe he could be a politician. Or a lawyer. Yes, he could totally rock it, defending the widow and the orphan…

While Murphy was lost in his delirium, Bellamy gave Miller some basic advices about first date: don’t wear too much perfume; don’t make awful puns; don’t mention your burning passion about shoelaces (Miller collected them, it was weird).

« Also » added Murphy once he got back in the conversation, « don’t forget that Monty is your friends since the end of 2nd year and that he knows you pretty well. Act naturally, a little flirty and it’ll be fine. But yeah, never mention the shoelaces until like, your marriage day because this is true weirdness. »

Miller looked better. He thanked them and they all went to bed because « QUIDDITCH SELECTION TOMORROW !!!!!! » as said by Bellamy who was still totally not stressed, obviously.

……………………………………

Murphy woke up at 8:30. He slammed his clock silent and went to the bathroom, groaning about too much light. Miller and Bellamy were already gone because they needed to warm-up before the selection that started at 9:00 but he was on time. He could totally fall asleep in the shower.

Murphy and Raven met their friends on the bench of the first Quidditch pitch forty minutes later. The first pitch was booked for the Slytherins until 10:30 then it was the Gryffindor team until 12:00 while the Hufflepuff’s and Ravenclaw’s selection were on the second pitch that Abby had recently made build.  
Jasper, Harper and Monty were talking together while Wick waited for his girlfriend to arrive. He shot Raven a big smile when he saw her and made place for her next to him.  
Murphy noticed that Emori, aka the girl of his very secret dreams since the end of 3rd year, was sitting alone at the end of their bench. He took a deep breath. It was now or never ! He could totally do it and he was the best ! Yes ! Confidence !

He sat next to her casually, pretending he didn’t saw her and then acted surprised when their gazes met. So smooth Murphy.

« Hi. You’re Emori, right ? » Sure Murphy, like you hadn’t know her name for 2 year; so so smooth.

She nodded and smiled at him. Okay, good start.

« So, you’re not playing this year ? I think I remember you as our seeker a few years ago. You were pretty good and so much better than the one we had last year. » Murphy couldn’t even remember the guy’s name. Something like Greenward. A disaster.

« Well, I had a little problem with my left hand during my fifth year and I couldn’t play but I kinda fixed it this summer so I’m back in the team now. Thanks for the compliment, I was actually pretty good ! And yeah, Greenberg was one of the worst seeker I ever saw. That’s a miracle we could win the Cup with him in the team ! I heard he’s also the one that made the potion room blow up in the Hufflepuff aisle last year. »

Murphy laughed when he remembered it. The explosion was so great he had wonder how someone could have done this not on purpose. If it was Greenberg, everything made sense. 

« What about you Murphy ? » asked Emori, maliciously. She knew his name. Best day ever. « Not a big fan of quidditch ? Your two bros never convinced you to try ? Or are you just really bad ? » 

« I’m just not a big fan of flying. Miller, Bell and the others tried to put me on a broom countless times but I’m not feeling safe in the air. On the other hand, I like quidditch. I’m a good cheerer, I encourage my friends and support them and I’m even here on a sunday morning to watch their selection ! If this ain’t dedication then I don’t know what it is »

« Looks like you’re more a good friend than anything else. »

« Yeah, I’m not sure they would agree. » said Murphy, chuckling. « So, why are you here and not on the pitch if you can play again ? »

« Well being Anya’s friend has some advantages… She said she would keep me my place in the team if I thought I could be our Seeker again this year. I’ve been training the past month and I’m feeling good again, ready to train with the others and kick ass so I don’t need to go through the selection ! I still came to see the new faces in our team though, but I don’t think it’s going to change a lot; we had a good group dynamic last year, except Greenberg of course… Also, I miss Raven , she was a good beater and a great girl. What happened to her ? I saw she has a brace on her left leg ? Did she had an accident ? »

Emori seemed really concerned about Raven. Still, Murphy thought it would be better if he wasn’t the one to tell her. The whole Castle was more or less aware that Raven had brace and that she had had an accident but only her friends really knew what happened.

Raven had fallen while she was rock climbing during the summer and had spent several hours with her leg stuck between the rocks that had fell with her. The rescuers had done a good job when extracting her and her leg had been saved but she now had lost sensibility and couldn’t move under her left knee. 

Wick, who was just a friend at the time, had helped her recover and had made her a brace so she could walk and move almost like before; unfortunately, she couldn’t fly with the brace because it didn’t allowed her enough movements and balance to play well. Wick and her were currently looking for a way to combine her brace with some magic spells that could allow her to fly and play again. The process was long but the result was worth it.  
Also, Raven and Wick fell in love with each other during Raven’s recovery so Murphy guessed it was a cool story. Raven was a survivor. That was why he didn’t understand why she didn’t want to tell her story to other people. Still, it was not up to him to do it because he felt like it so he stayed vague when he answered Emori.

« Well, yes, she had an accident this summer and her brace allows her to move but not to fly. Wick and her are working on something so maybe she’ll join the team during the season if she can and want and also if Anya agrees. You should ask Raven what happened if you really care; it’s her story so she chooses who she tells. »

Emori nodded in agreement and Murphy smiled at her. She was pretty with her light brown skin, her hazelnut eyes and long matted hair; she also looked savage. The kind of girl who could be all nice to you and then cut your throat when she had what she wanted. Well, not cut your throat because they lived in a civilized country but still. She could play that girl. Murphy didn’t really care, he was already charmed.

The silence was confortable between them; they were watching Bellamy scoring, or trying to since Anya was keeping the goal hoops, while the other players waited on the ground or were flying around; Murphy’s friends were sitting near, talking or cheering; Monty shot him a wink when he saw that he was sitting next to Emori. Damn Monty, he was way too observant. 

Murphy faced Emori again and they started talking about school and life in general. It was easy with her; she was chatty but also witty which balanced his sarcastic and (sometimes) bored view of life. Without realizing it, they talked until the end of the selection.  
When they saw everyone on the bench moving toward the pitch to hear the composition of the team, they interrupted their conversation and followed to the gathering in the center of the pitch.

« First of all, thank you to everyone for coming. » Anya started, not smiling; Anya only smiled on three occasion: when she was with her friends, when she was pranking someone or when she was playing quidditch, but still, Murphy could tell she was happy about the selection. « As you know, this is my last year in Hogwarts and as the captain of this team. I’m more than happy to see that a lot of people came here today and that, with the team I composed, we have our chance to win the Cup again this year ! »  
People whistled loudly and cheered hearing this. Hell yeah they were going to win ! 

When she started talking again, Murphy saw Miller joining him discretely.

« Soooo Murphy, how was the selection ? Did you like it ? Did you see when I hit the bludger right into Nyko’s face and made him fall off his broom ? » whispered Miller, in an amused tone. « Oh nooo, right, you were too busy talking with Emori to notice your brother of heart and soul risking his life and being magnificent on the pitch ! »

Murphy chuckled silently. Miller was doing tones of it just because he wanted information.

« Alright, I’ll tell you what happened tonight but please cut the bullshit. Also I’m pretty sure the rest of the gang noticed; Monty even winked at me. Your boyfriend is too damn observant. » answered Murphy.

« Monty isn’t my boyfriend you dick ! »

« Yeah, not yet. Let’s hope he’ll be after your date tonight. Anyway, Anya’s going to announce the composition, you might want to shut the fuck up and listen to her. »

Indeed, Anya just ended her speech and took two Quidditch jersey from the pile behind her.

« So, as our beaters this year, Nate Miller and Niobe Macmillan ! »

There was a round of applause when Nate and a small black girl took their jersey from Anya’s hand.

« Told you so. » said Murphy when his friend returned next to him with his jersey. Miller smiled at him, looking proud.

They listened to Anya when she announced the rest of the team: herself as the goal keeper, of course, Bellamy, Niko and Echo as the chasers and Emori as the seeker. Almost everything that Murphy predicted last night. Forget about being a lawyer, he was going to be a soothsayer. 

Anya thanked them again and gave her team the planning of the future trainings for the month; then, they cleared the pitch for the Gryffindor selection.

While the Gryffindors were arriving by small group on the sports field, Murphy and his friends returned on the bench to watch the oncoming selection. Murphy noticed that Anya’s group was heading to the Castle; Emori turned and shot him a smile, before joining her friends. Murphy smiled back and immediately felt his friends gazes on him. Miller’s one was knowing, Monty’s was encouraging, Bell’s was interrogative and Jasper’s was mocking. That was a lot of emotions to answer to.

« You guys want something ? » asked Murphy, trying to look blase.

More gazes.

« Okay, there’s nothing to talk about but you can ask your questions at lunch, when everyone is here, if you want. » sighed Murphy.

……………………………………

At the end of the selection, Clarke announced the composition of the Gryffindor team: Octavia was their seeker, Monroe and a muscular blue-haired boy were the beaters, Ceres Fisher (Murphy had never knew if Ceres was a boy or a girl but apparently neither did he/she/they so it was cool) was their goal keeper and Clarke and two other Gryffindors he never saw were the chasers.

Lincoln joined them during the Gryffindor’s announcement and told them he was selected as a chaser in the Ravenclaw team. Everyone congratulated him and he ran and hugged Octavia in the crowd when he heard her name followed by « will be our seeker this year for the first time ».  
Octavia started Quidditch this summer because of Lincoln, when they started dating; she wanted to prove him she could be sporty like him and she did it well apparently.  
Murphy knew Clarke would never choose someone in her team only because that person was her boyfriend’s twin so he knew Octavia was going to be a great player.

After everyone left the pitch but them, Murphy’s friends started one of this ridiculous group flight they did sometimes. They all flew off in the air, with some brooms carrying two people; Miller actually took Monty on his broom and Murphy was really proud of him. 

Murphy turned and sat next to Raven, on the ground, watching them chasing each others.

« I have the feeling it’s going to be a good year, don’t you Murph ? »

He smiled at her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

He hoped so.


	3. Mines de cristal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the HUGE absence, im in difficult study times and enjoying these christmas times to release the third chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it ! xxx

« Keep running Murphy, he’s coming ! »

Murphy looked over his shoulder and saw the silhouette of Argus Filch at the end of the corridor, trying to catch up with them.  
He speeded up and turned right, following Miller.  
Murphy was out of puff but he kept running; he knew the secret passage was near.

« Miller, stop ! It’s here ! » said Murphy, breathless, when he arrived in front of the good painting.  
He tried to talk quietly; he didn’t really know where Filch was but he couldn’t hear him behind them so it was good. Also, they were in a one of those corners where they could see what was happening in the corridor but were still hidden.

Murphy coughed violently and tried to catch his breath, hands on his knees. He definitively wasn’t made for running.  
When his heartbeat finally slowed down, he started talking to the man sitting in the painting.

« Hey Copernic ! How are things going ? »

« Hello Jonathan ! » answered Copernic, surprised to see him. He knew Murphy hated it when he called him Jonathan. The bastard.

« I already told you not to call me like that, Cop. Can you open the passage please ? Sir Filch is chasing us again. »

« Ah Jonathan, what mischief have you been doing again ? » sighed Copernic, shaking his head. Murphy smiled. He liked this guy. « Here, you and Nathaniel will be safe for a time. Don’t forget to visit me soon ! I have a lot of discoveries to share with you ! »

« Will do, Cop. »

During his 2nd year, Murphy was very angry at everyone and everything; that made him lonely.  
He took the habit of walking alone in the Castle and, step by step, made friends with the majority of the paintings decorating the walls. 

They liked his witty humor and he liked to hear about their discoveries of the world and the gossips they shared with him about the inhabitants of the Castle. They also shared with him the location of the majority of the secret passages hidden in the thick walls of Hogwarts and for that, he was infinitely grateful. 

Since then, he visited them every week, not forgetting that they helped him to get through the most difficult period of his life and that they kept helping him now, opening the passages for him and his friends every time they needed it.

Murphy felt something touching his ankle while they were waiting for the wall to open in front of them.  
He looked down and recognized the animal passionately scratching his shoes and mewling with furor.

« Fuck fuck fuck Miller ! Mrs Norris is here ! Filch must be near ! She won’t stop mewling for fuck’s sake ! »

Miller looked at him, panicked. They could hear Filch running towards them and the secret passage was still opening; in a few seconds, they could get in but that meant Filch would know that Copernic was helping them and the portrait would end up in Hogwarts’ storeroom.

« Alright Nate, plan B. » said Murphy, seeing that Filch was only a few meters away from them. 

« You sure Murph ? I can come with you. »

« No way, you got a date tonight and I don’t want Monty to be pissed at me ! Also, I don’t mind being alone in detention. See you tomorrow bro. »

Miller ruffled Murphy’s hair and got in the dark corridor that had opened behing Copernic’s portrait.

Murphy winked at Copernic and got out of the corner. 

When Filch saw him, his satisfied expression grew. The guy kinda hated him.

« Jonathan Murphy, come back here ! I can’t wait to show you all the cleaning I saved for your first detention of the year. »

Murphy knew the passage wasn’t closed yet. He shot a bright smile at Filch and flipped him off then he started running again.

He stopped when he joined the Ravenclaw’s aisle of the Castle. Filch was still behind him and he was out of breathe. He didn’t care about the detention as long as he kept Filch away from Nate and Cop.  
He turned over and raised his arms to mark his resignation.

« Alright Filch, what do you got for me tonight ? »

……………………………………

Murphy arrived in Filch’s office right after diner. He was strangely glad to be here alone; Miller was eating with Monty, Raven was working on her brace and Bellamy was having one of his protectiveness crisis towards Octavia; he discovered that Lincoln, Octavia’s boyfriend, was recovering from a drug addiction. Murphy knew Octavia and she wasn’t stupid: if she had decided to date Lincoln then she knew about his problem and if she stayed with him there was no risk whatsoever. Try to explain this to Bellamy though…  
Anyway, he was alone in detention for the first time in 3 years and that felt strangely good.

Murphy knocked on Filch’s door and waited, hearing the old man walking and coughing behind the wooden frame. Filch should stop racing students across the Castle or his cat was going to outlive him.

« Jonathan ! What a pleasure to see you ! » said Filch, smiling creepily.

Murphy winced. He entered in the office and discovered that one of the two chairs in the room was occupied.

« Hi Jonathan. Fancy seeing you here. » said Emori, winking at him.

Oh no. This situation was both awesome and incredibly awkward. Still, Emori winked at him so his night wasn’t lost.

« Oh, I see you already know each other ! » said Filch, collapsing into the second chair, behind his desk. « Well you’re going to know each other even better after tonight since you’re going to clean every cauldron in the Castle ! »

Clearly, the old man was enjoying himself. That was probably why he never got married. Imagine dating someone whose best turn-on was giving chores to students; terrifying.

« Thanks Filch, I couldn’t think of a better night. » sighed Murphy, crossing his arms. « Where do we begin ? »

……………………………………

« So Murphy, tell me: how does it comes that you’re in detention alone when it looks like you’re glued to your friends ? » asked Emori while scrubbing her 37th cauldron of the night.

They’ve been washing and scrubbing and polishing for one hour now and it seemed that Emori was bored. Murphy was more than happy to chat with her.

« Well, usually I’m never alone in detention but tonight is special. We always try to get caught at two or more but Miller is on a date, Raven is taking care of her leg and all of the others had something to do. Also, I don’t really mind being alone since I’m used to it so I offered. » He had stopped scrubbing while he was talking. His arms hurt like hell.

« And what about you ? Solo mission got you in detention ? »

Emori stopped polishing her cauldron and sat next to Murphy.

« Nah, I’m used to detention alone. Since 3rd year, Anya and I have a stupid habit: sometimes we plan a prank alone and we try to make the other go in detention for it. » 

Murphy snorted. He should propose this to the group; well not to everyone since Clarke and Wells were prefects of their houses so they would win all the time. Still, he kept the idea in mind.

« That’s pretty cool. So, what did she do tonight to get you here ? »

……………………………………

They kept talking during the whole work. Finally, the conversation ended on Murphy’s least favorite subject: his family.

Emori was telling him about her older brother, Toren. He had graduated from Hogwarts four years ago and was now working at the Ministry, in the communication department. 

« Anyway, enough about me » said Emori, rubbing a silver caldron in bad shape, « do you have any brother or sister ? »

« Erm, no, I’m a single child. »

« So, I guess from your attitude that you were one of those spoiled little monsters » said Emori, mocking.

Murphy looked at her and hesitated. He could either lie to her, tell her he had been a happy kid with loving parents or tell her the sad truth. He didn’t really know how she would react to it but he trusted her and he was tired of lying about his family to every new person in his life. Still, he decided to stay vague; he didn’t want her to fear him, or worse, pity him.

« Well, not really » he said, shrugging. « My father died during the summer between my first and my second year. He wasn’t really a good father, or husband, but after his death, my mother went mad and kinda drown herself in alcohol. Since then, my family is a bit restrained. Well, I do have all these losers hanging around me so I can say I found a new and better family, but don’t tell them, they’ll think I like them and stuff and they’ll get too affectionate. » said Murphy, rolling his eyes but smiling slightly.

Emori looked at him with both sadness and fondness in her eyes. She winked at him (she seemed to do that a lot) and promised she won’t tell his friends.

Then she did something he didn’t expected.

« Can you keep a secret Murphy ? »

Murphy nodded, confused.

« I think you all noticed I’m always wearing a glove on my left hand. » she said, agitating said hand. She started taking it off, lace by lace, and kept talking. « Well, in the end of our fifth year, Anya, Artigos, Nyko and I tried to become an Animagus and, well, it failed for all of us but I’m the only one who brought back a memory. »

She took the leather glove off her hand and let him discover what was hidden under. Her hand looked more like a crab claw: her fingers were welded together two by two and her thumb was intact but there was a sixth finger mirroring it. It looked odd and dangerous, like it was cutting and more solid than a hand. Murphy was marvelled.  
He approached his hand and looked at her, silently asking for her approbation. She nodded, her expression unreadable.  
When he touched her hand, the skin seemed more like a shell, cold and smooth. He tested the edges of the claw and cut his finger.  
Surprised, he jumped and Emori took her hand back.

« I’m sorry, I should have tell you not to touch the edges » she said, while lacing her glove. « Are you ok ? »

« Yeah, no worries, it’s nothing. But your hand is amazing ! You can play quidditch with it ? It’s really badass. »

Murphy was thrilled by this discovery. She could do so much with it !

Emori laughed sadly: « My friends and I managed to improve my hand this summer so yes, I can play quidditch this season but still… I don’t know if you noticed but I keep the glove on all the time. The other houses, and by that I mean the Gryffindors, would not lose a second to make fun of me and some Slytherins, the one still stuck in the old mentality, would tell me I’m an inferior being and all that. Not really my cup of tea. »

« I get that and I respect your choice but if it were me ? I wouldn’t lose an opportunity to show the world how awesome I am. Screw them. »

Emori looked at him, surprised. Then she smiled, a real luminous smile.

……………………………………

The next morning, Murphy had so much trouble waking up that Miller had to carry him and throw him in the shower to have a chance to eat before their first class.  
When he was ready ten minutes later, they met Raven and Bellamy in the common room and went in the Great Hall for breakfast.

« Yo Wells. » said Murphy while crushing on the Hufflepuff bench next to Wells.  
« Hi guys ! » replied Wells, putting down the book he was reading and smiling at them. « Slept well ? »  
« Yeah, thanks Wells. » answered Raven, filing her cup with coffee.  
She turned towards Murphy: « Murph, are you seriously sleeping ? Detention was that exhausting ? »

Murphy just groaned and rose his head, rubbing his eyes. He came back in his dormitory around 1 AM last night and had trouble falling asleep but still, there he was, at 7:30 AM, ready to go to his least favorite class: history of magic.  
He was going to need more than coffee to endure the next three hours.  
Twenty minutes later he was leaning against the wall next to the classroom with Raven, Bellamy, Miller, Wick and Monty. 

They were all talking about the essay they had to write for the day. Professor Binns had given them the free choice of the epoch but a common subject: the persecution of wizards in capital cities. Murphy had chosen to write about wizards in Buenos Aires during the 80’s; it was a bit specific but he had found some very interesting documents and testimonies and had actually enjoyed writing the thirty inches.

He claimed to hate history of magic but he really just hated the courses of Binns.  
The only thing that made this class bearable was sitting next to Miller in the back of the classroom: they played this game where they threw bits of paper in the hair of Bellamy sitting two rows in front of them; the one whose most papers stayed in his hair during the class won for the day and could take the most comfy comfortable armchair in the common room.

Murphy was pull out of his reverie by Monty who poked his cheek.  
« Murph ? You’re here with me ? » asked Monty, still poking his cheek.  
Murphy shaked himself and yawned. « Yeah, stop hitting me. Want something ? »  
« Uh yeah, could you let me sit with Miller today ? » said Monty, blushing lightly, « He’s acting weird since our last date, like he’s scared or some shit and I don’t want him to run away. Sorry, I know you were looking forward to throw paper in Bell’s hair.»

Murphy snorted and looked at Miller. Nate was just stupid and freaked out because he had feelings for someone for the first time in his life. What a dumbass.

« Yeah, don’t worry about that, I’ll survive. » answered Murphy, smirking « but you owe me. I want free weed for this weekend. »  
Monty laughed at that and bumped his fist. « You got a deal Murph. You’re awful to make business with. »  
Murphy ruffled his hair and walked toward the door which just opened. He liked Monty.

In the classroom, he sat where Monty usually was, next to this Ravenclaw girl, Vera he remembered.

He looked back and saw the confused expression on Miller’s face.

What the fuck dude ? » mouthed Miller, dropping his bag on their table.  
Then he saw Monty sitting next to him and understood what was happening.

Their teacher started talking and Murphy turned to Vera.

« Hey » he murmured, « sorry about the change, Monty have to work on something with Miller. »

« Yeah, no shit » said Vera, snorting. Murphy must looked surprised because she added « Monty told me a bit about what was happening between them. Miller is kinda stupid, no offense. »

« None taken » whispered Murphy while Binns was reciting the story of the troll’s riot in the twelfth century in his monotone voice. « How about we share our notes ? I’m not really in for two hours of focus… » 

Vera nodded: « Alright, I’ll take the first quarter if you want, you look like you could use a thirty minutes nap. I hope you know how to take notes tho. »

« Thanks, you rock » said Murphy, grateful. He dropped his head between his arms, closed his eyes and was starting to drift off when he felt a paper plane landing on his cheek.  
He opened it and recognized Miller’s neat writing.

stop improving my love life its scary  
you can have the comfy armchair tonight but i want half the weed

Murphy wrote his reply and sent the plane back before falling asleep. He was an evil mastermind.

fuck u & only a quarter or ill talk to monty about SHOELACEZ


End file.
